Category: Azer News

A conference in Istanbul has explored how Azerbaijan-Turkiye strategic cooperation has evolved in the aftermath of the Garabagh Victory, with experts highlighting shifting power dynamics in the South Caucasus.

Hosted by the Turkish Literature Foundation (TEDEV) and organised by the ‘Garabagh is Azerbaijan’ National Platform, the event brought together academics, researchers, and civil society representatives to examine new regional realities, the role of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), and the geopolitical significance of the Zangazur Corridor.

Opening the conference, Elvin Abdurahmanli, the platform’s Turkiye coordinator, said the Garabagh Victory was now a symbol of pride across the Turkic world, adding that the platform’s mission is to promote accurate information about Garabagh internationally and strengthen Azerbaijani-Turkish ties.

TEDEV Chairman Serhat Kabakli emphasised the importance of cultural links as the basis for deeper political and strategic cooperation.

Panel discussions featured presentations on regional diplomacy, military cooperation, and the rising importance of the Middle Corridor in Eurasian connectivity.

The event also saw the launch of the Center for Geostrategic and Diplomatic Studies (JEDAM), which aims to cultivate strategic research among young scholars and support the academic dimension of Azerbaijani-Turkish relations.

Participants received commemorative plaques at the close of the programme.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, addressed the participants of the solidarity forum of non-governmental organizations of the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States, Azernews reports.

”Dear Forum participants!

I extend my heartfelt greetings to you at the Solidarity Forum of NGOs from the Organization of Turkic States Member Countries.

The growing potential of the Turkic states and their increasingly strong position on the global stage require setting more ambitious goals, intensifying joint efforts, deepening cooperation across all fields, and establishing more flexible mechanisms. The Solidarity Forum of NGOs from the Organization of Turkic States Member Countries, being held for the first time, is an important step in this direction.

Our brotherly and friendly peoples, who remain committed to the ideals of peace, security, stability, and progress in the region and beyond, are united as one strong family by our shared ethnic roots, history, language, culture, traditions, and values. This, in turn, enables the Turkic states to act as a single center of power.

As the country currently chairing the Organization of Turkic States, Azerbaijan is also working to strengthen public communication and engagement among the civil society institutions of the member countries. The most recent meeting in Baku of the Council of Presidents of the Turkic Red Network of the Organization of Turkic States, the current Solidarity Forum of NGOs, and the upcoming meeting of the OTS’s ministers and senior officials responsible for media and information demonstrate both the scale and the multifaceted nature of the work being carried out in this field.

Today, the Turkic world is experiencing a period of renewed growth and dynamism. The Garabagh Victory we achieved five years ago is a source of shared joy and pride for the Turkic peoples. I am confident that the Garabagh and East Zangazur economic regions, which are currently being rebuilt, and the Zangazur Corridor, once opened, will play a crucial role in advancing development and strengthening cooperation among the Turkic states.

Azerbaijan is ready to launch joint grant competitions for NGOs with the member states of the Organization of Turkic States, both bilaterally and multilaterally, in the fields of history, culture, ecology, climate policy, and other areas, and to support projects that foster mutual communication.

The upcoming centenary of the First Turkological Congress in 2026 presents a timely opportunity to continue the unfinished work on the cultural integration of Turkic peoples, with active participation from NGOs, in response to contemporary challenges.

The joint and coordinated activities of NGOs from the Turkic world within the framework of the UN and other international institutions, as well as their consolidation on a single platform, can make a significant contribution to our common cause and objectives.

I am confident that the cooperative relationships you forge during the forum will help strengthen solidarity, unity, and relations among our countries in the Turkic world.

I once again welcome you to Azerbaijan and wish every success to the Forum’s proceedings,” the address reads.

On November 24, Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, received Vahid Jalalzadeh, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who is visiting the country, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry noted that during the meeting, the two sides discussed the agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as regional issues.

The importance of contacts between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Iran, ongoing political dialogue, and interparliamentary relations in strengthening friendly ties between the two countries was emphasized. The discussion also highlighted that the two visits made by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Azerbaijan earlier this year have further boosted bilateral relations.

The parties examined prospects for cooperation in political, economic, trade, energy security, transport, and communications sectors. They particularly noted that several projects implemented by Azerbaijan and Iran play a significant role in the development of transport corridors passing through the region.

The meeting also included an exchange of views on other matters of mutual interest.

The number of users registered on ‘myGov,’ Azerbaijan’s primary digital government platform, has exceeded 2 million, marking a sharp rise in engagement across both the web and mobile applications in 2025, Azernews reports, citing the Innovation and Digital Development Agency.

According to information, more than 1 million citizens registered on the platform this year alone – more than double the figure recorded at the end of last year. The number of active users, who regularly log in and use digital services, has reached 800,000.

The platform now offers over 400 digital services.

Among the most frequently accessed digital documents in 2025 were ID card data, employment information, family composition certificates, driver’s license data, and marriage-related information. QR code sharing and document download features drove most of this usage. At present, 69 digital documents and data types are available on the platform. Citizens accessed these digital documents around 2.2 million times, twice as much as in the same period last year.

The most popular service requests included criminal record certificates, mobile device registration, family member information, single-status certificates, and vehicle-use authorizations. A total of 37 government services were redesigned and digitized, with usage growing tenfold to over 220,000 requests this year.

Several new features have significantly contributed to the rise in user numbers. The ‘myGov ID’ functionality played a key role, enabling fast and convenient access to both public and private sector systems using QR codes. The ‘Permission Management’ feature gives users greater control over their personal data sharing, enhancing the platform’s security and user-friendliness. Additionally, a newly introduced digital correspondence feature, allowing citizens to send and receive letters from government institutions, has further improved the citizen-centric service experience.

Through the ‘myGov’ application, citizens can currently access a wide range of services, including criminal record certificates, family and marital status information, education and military service records, power of attorney issuance, updates to utility service subscriber data, debt and healthcare information, employment references, electronic labor contract signing, entry permits to liberated territories, bank card payments, and more. Life-event services – such as obtaining marriage, birth, and death certificates – have also become more convenient through enhanced cooperation with government agencies.

With ongoing expansions to platform capabilities and user-experience improvements, the growth momentum of ‘myGov’ is expected to continue in the coming period.

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Sunday announced a series of disciplinary actions and dismissals targeting senior military figures over the failure to prevent the events of Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli media.

The incident is widely regarded inside Israel as the most severe intelligence and operational collapse in the country’s history, dealing a major blow to both Israel’s international standing and the credibility of its armed forces.

Public broadcaster KAN reported that Zamir ordered the termination of reserve service for several retired generals, including former Military Intelligence head Aharon Haliva, ex-Southern Command chief Yaron Finkelman, and former Operations Directorate chief Oded Basyuk. Though these officers had already been removed from their posts previously, the new decisions permanently strip them of their reservist roles.

Zamir also dismissed Avi Rosenfeld, the reserve commander of the Gaza Division, while the division’s intelligence officer was removed from the army entirely.

Other senior figures-Air Force commander Tomer Bar, current Military Intelligence chief Shlomi Binder, and Navy commander David Saar Salama-received formal reprimands but kept their positions.

KAN noted that Haliva and former Unit 8200 chief Yossi Sariel did not appear at Sunday’s hearings for scheduling reasons and will undergo review later before any final decision on their reserve status.

The disciplinary steps came about two weeks after Zamir received a detailed investigative report from retired Gen. Sami Turgeman outlining the military and intelligence shortcomings that led to the October 2023 shock attack.

None of the officers affected have publicly commented. Several high-ranking commanders have already resigned over the failures, including then-chief of staff Herzi Halevi.

The Azerbaijan National Library has presented its traditional book exhibition timed to the 80th anniversary of People’s Poet Vahid Aziz, known as a prominent and influential figure in contemporary Azerbaijani poetry, Azernews reports.

The exhibition features a wide range of the poet’s works, including his poems, narrative poems, translations, publicistic writings, books he compiled or wrote prefaces for, musical scores set to his lyrics, and materials from periodicals.

Vahid Aziz (Vahid Aziz oglu Jafarov) was born on November 23, 1945, in the ancient Daralayaz region of Western Azerbaijan into a civil servant’s family.

Following his family’s relocation to the Tartar district of Azerbaijan, he completed his secondary education there.

Many of his lyrical poems have been turned into songs and musical compositions, reflecting his lasting impact on Azerbaijani music and literature.

In recognition of his contributions to Azerbaijani culture, Vahid Aziz was awarded the honorary title of People’s Poet of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 24, 2019.

Most recently, on November 22, he was honored with the Sharaf (Order of Honor) by the decree of President Ilham Aliyev for his long-standing and significant contributions to the development of Azerbaijani literature.

Azercell Telecom continues to enhance its range of digital solutions by integrating the ‘Asan Imza’ service into the Azercell mobile app, Azernews reports.

Through this implementation, users can easily access key details of their ‘Asan Imza’ service, including the expiration date, status, service type, and monthly renewal period of their enhanced mobile electronic signature.

At the initial stage, this feature is available to prepaid (SimSim) subscribers and will be extended to postpaid customers in the near future.

The update supports Azercell’s efforts to simplify the digital experience and provide wider access to innovative, user-friendly solutions.

The trial of Armenian citizen Ruben Vardanyan, accused under articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan related to crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, terrorism, financing of terrorism, and other serious crimes, continued on 24 November.

The open court session at the Baku Military Court was held under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Aghayev, with judges Anar Rzayev and Jamal Ramazanov on the panel (reserve judge Gunel Samadova). The accused was provided with an interpreter in the language he understands (Russian) as well as a state-funded defence lawyer.

Judge Zeynal Aghayev introduced the panel of judges, the prosecutors upholding the state accusation, the interpreters and others to the victims and legal successors of victims participating in the hearing for the first time, and explained their rights and obligations under the law.

The testimonies of the victims were then heard.

Responding to inquiries from state prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, victim Mirhuseyn Salahov said that he, along with Huseyn Mammadov, and several others, was wounded as a result of mortar shell explosion fired by the remnants of the Armenian armed forces, as well as the illegal Armenian armed detachments in Kalbajar district.

Answering questions from Nasir Bayramov, head of the Public Prosecution Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, victim Eltuhan Jabiyev stated that he was wounded in the gunfire from the remnants of the Armenian armed forces, and the illegal Armenian armed detachments in Kalbajar.

In his testimony, victim Telman Farhadli claimed he was wounded by enemy fire in Kalbajar district. Responding to questions from Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General Vusal Aliyev, the victim added that two more people sustained injuries during the incident.

Responding to inquiries from state prosecutor Fuad Musayev, victims Islam Masiyev and Mehdi Ahmadov said that they sustained various bodily injuries as a result of an enemy mortar shell explosion in Kalbajar district.

Victim Khalil Khasmammadov claimed he, along with two others, was injured as a result of an enemy provocation, with two others died during the incident.

Responding to inquiries from state prosecutor Tarana Mammadova, victim Ariz Mammadov stated that he, along with Nemat Abdullayev and Sadig Gasimli, was injured of the mortar fire from the remnants of the Armenian armed forces and the illegal Armenian armed detachments in the Khalfali village of Shusha district.

Victim Elnur Shikhiyev said he was wounded by enemy fire, while driving an ambulance vehicle in Kalbajar district. According to him, despite driving a car with a distinctive insignia, his vehicle still came under the enemy mortar fire.

Responding to questions from Assistant to the Prosecutor General for Special Assignments Tugay Rahimli, victims Sadig Aliyev and Musannif Aliyev said that they were wounded as a result of the enemy’s provocation in Kalbajar.

Answering questions from state prosecutor Vusal Abdullayev, victim Yagir Sultanov mentioned that he was injured as a result of an enemy mortar shell explosion.

Ilyas Babazade reported being injured as a result of an artillery shell explosion in Kalbajar. Nijat Garazade, who was standing next to him during the incident, was also killed.

Victim Farid Ibrahimov stated that he sustained various bodily injuries as a result of the explosion of an artillery shell fired by the remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups in Aghdam.

Victim Elgun Talibov testified that he was wounded in his right hand as a result of the fire opened by the remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups in the direction of Aghdara.

Khayal Habibov reported being injured as a result of an explosion of mine planted by the enemy in Lachin.

Vugar Hasanov stated that he was wounded by enemy fire in Aghdam.

In their testimonies, Mustafa Aghayev, Amrah Abdiyev, Natig Zeynalli, Farid Aliyev, Hidayat Gudratzade, Polad Rahmanov, Zamil Taghiyev, Sanan Aliyev, Famil Abdullayev, Firuddin Namazaliyev, Hakim Hasanov, Omar Musayev, emphasized that they were wounded by enemy fire opened in various directions by the remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups.

The court session continued with the examination of documents and other evidence in the criminal case file.

The next court hearing has been scheduled for November 25.

Ruben Vardanyan faces multiple charges under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including Articles 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparing, initiating, and waging a war of aggression), 107 (deportation and forced displacement of the population), 109 (persecution), 110 (forcible disappearance of persons), 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law), 113 (torture), 114.1 (mercenary activity), 115.2 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare), 116.0.1, 116.0.2, 116.0.10, 116.0.11, 116.0.16, 116.0.18 (violation of international humanitarian law norms during an armed conflict), 120.2.1, 120.2.3, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.11, 120.2.12 (intentional murder), 29.120.2.1, 29.120.2.3, 29.120.2.4, 29.120.2.7, 29.120.2.11, 29.120.2.12 (attempted intentional murder), 192.3.1 (illegal entrepreneurship), 214.2.1, 214.2.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism), 214-1 (financing of terrorism), 218.1, 218.2 (creation of a criminal group), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, and possession of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and devices), 270-1.2, 270-1.4 (acts threatening aviation safety), 278.1 (forcible seizure or retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state), 279.1, 279.2, 279.3 (creation of armed formations not provided for by law), and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan).

In line with President Ilham Aliyev’s instructions, the Great Return to the territories liberated from occupation continues.

Azernews reports that the latest stage of the relocation process has brought 30 families-144 people-to the village of Mammadbayli in the Zangilan district. The families moving to Mammadbayli had previously been living temporarily in various parts of the country, primarily in dormitories, sanatoriums, and administrative buildings.

Residents returning to their ancestral lands expressed deep gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva for the comprehensive state support provided to them. They also extended heartfelt thanks to the valiant Azerbaijani Army and its heroic soldiers and officers who liberated the homeland from occupation.

This latest relocation marks another significant step in restoring life to the liberated regions and ensuring the safe, dignified, and voluntary return of former internally displaced persons.

On November 24, 2025, in Paris, during the 25th session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Republic of Azerbaijan was elected as a member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) for the 2025-2029 term, Azernews reports.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the elections were held under serious competition, with five countries competing for a single seat allocated to the Eastern European region. Azerbaijan secured 92 out of 160 votes in the first round, ensuring a decisive victory.

The 21-member Committee serves as UNESCO’s main executive body overseeing the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Its mandate includes supervising the formation of the UNESCO World Heritage List, ensuring the recognition, conservation and transmission of cultural and natural heritage to future generations.

The Committee is also responsible for determining the use of the World Heritage Fund, providing financial assistance for conservation, management plans, emergency interventions and capacity-building projects for member states.

Azerbaijan previously served on the Committee from 2015 to 2019, actively contributing to its work. Notably, in July 2019, Azerbaijan hosted the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee, which received wide international recognition.

Azerbaijan’s re-election to the Committee is viewed as a reflection of the country’s growing regional and global standing, as well as its continued commitment to the protection of world cultural and natural heritage.